Follow the Leader
by Just.Another.Wannabe
Summary: Because she always fell for the leader. AnybodysRiff, AnybodysAction at the end.


A/N- So my high school is doing West Side Story. I'm in it as a random Shark girl. I was watching the part where Anybodys tells them that Chino was going to kill Tony, and the way our Anybodys acted towards Action at the end just gave me the urge to ship Action/Anybodys. But then as I started writing this in my head (yeah, I do that. I had my friend smack me because I was being a geek) and it changed into this. Reviews? Yay.

* * *

She always fell for a leader.

She had a name, once. A real name, a pretty, girlish name. It didn't suit her, though. She was never pretty enough for a real name. And her name only reminded her that she never had the looks to fill it. So she ditched the name. She can't even remember what it was. Nobody can, not even her family. That name, after all, was a completely different person.

The first time she saw him, she flipped. He walked tall, he walked cool. He was fierce, a wild animal hunting for adventure. He was by no means the strongest or the biggest one in the group. Oh, but how he controlled the others. There were about a dozen hoodlums walking behind him, waiting for a command, prepared to do a back flip at his tiniest whim. He had a power over them. He had a power over her.

He bumped into her. People often did, her size making her easy to miss. He brushed it off. He and the gang walked on by, trying to get out of her world. But it was too late. They had bumped right into her life, and damn it if they'd ever get out. She followed them for blocks, around and around their turf. Finally, he stopped, and turned around to see her. 

"Look, what are you following us for, little girl?"

She melted. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. She wanted to be pretty. She wanted her girly name. "I've heard of you-you're Riff. You lead the Jets. Gotta respect you." She stuck out her hand. "Name's Anybodys. Need another gang member?"

* * *

She never gave up after he rejected her. She wanted him. He had the strength of a great leader. It drew her to his side. She wanted to be a girl he'd want. But she wasn't pretty like Graziella and Velma. She didn't have that charm. So if she couldn't be the girl of his dreams, she'd be the girl next door. Even if he never wanted any girl next door, she'd always be there. She never gave up hope that he'd look her way.

Nobody else understood. The other girls on the street looked down on her, treated her like a joke. The guys in the gang tried shoving her off, riding their turf of just one more speck of a person. They all thought she was merely gay. That one made her laugh. If only they knew. If only he knew.

Sometimes, she thought he did know. Every once in a while, when he'd look down on her and tell her to beat it, there would be a slight glimmer in his eye. Her heart would race. She thought he knew. But if he did, he never let on. 

* * *

After he died, she was a mess.

It was like her entire world had fallen apart. She had loved him for his strength. Well, look where it got him in the end. He was the leader of a bunch of teenage wannabes. And what was more pathetic, she had spent years stalking them, trying to get into the gang of wannabes, trying to make him love her. For that hour, it seemed like the most pathetic excuse of a life she had ever heard of.

She tracked down the rest of the gang. As if she was being pathetic. The once powerful, whole gang was shattered into pieces. They didn't know what to do without Riff. Nobody knew what to do without Riff. Nobody had needed to know, as he'd always been there before.

She tried giving them hope. It was the best she could do. She fell in love with leaders. But she wasn't one. She was strictly a follower. Its all Anybodys knew how to be.

She could have hugged Action when he finally stepped up. Just seconds before she almost started to cry, something she hadn't done since she lost her real name. That was years beforehand, and she knew that if she ever cried again, it couldn't be in front of the toughest gang around.

The way he took charge was beautiful, at least it was to her. His commands were as strong as Riffs had ever been. He knew he was next in line-he had known since he saw Riff go. It just took a while for the shock to wear away. Now he was ready. Looking at him, standing tall, standing cool, she knew the Jets would stand strong underneath him.

* * *

She always fell for the leader.


End file.
